AoC or Star Citizen are a great example of that: people were sold on the idea, but it turned out to be hard to make all of that a reality that matched the vision
This ... is a double-edged sword.
1) For AoC most people were thirsty for a new MMO that isn't WoW and that doesn't devolve into pay2win like ArcheAge, and AoC filled that void in people's heart by saying all the right things like "sandbox" and "player-driven" and "dynamic", like a lovebombing cluster B borderline woman. How much of that really was there and not smoke and mirrors is something that may or may not ever come out.
For me it was pretty obvious that the game was built to be run by big guilds who control territory/resources, in a guild vs. guild fashion, and that "flying mounts are in, but only big shots will be able to have one, we will cap them at 10-20 per server"... and that was where I was pretty much out. It was pretty clear, back then, at this exact point, that Steven was doing this to fulfill a dream--so he could later strut around proudly on his flying mount above the common footfolk.
2) Star Citizen was built on the premise to build as big of a sci-fi space game as they could, but then they were too successful, and now they could ramp up production on as many features as possible in parallel--when the basic design wasn't even done and playtested. And now we suddenly have TWO games, one persistent MMO and one single-player (Squadron 42). That game ... Those TWO games are like a Triple-A playbook of incompetent project management and both design debt and technical debt: Instead of shipping a playable bare-bones version, test with all the beta players and iterate from there, they are building an entire cruise ship with thousands of workers in parallel ... while it is already at sea on its maiden voyage.
Things like using one engine (CryEngine) and then deciding to switch to an offshoot (LumberYard), but the engine is not built for such a game, so they custimize it heavily to make it work--which is exactly like Vanguard: Saga of Heroes played out. Funnily enough, Elite: Dangerous started development after Star Citizen, and they released in 2014, the year Star Citizen should've been originally released. Let that sink in: We are over 10 years overdue.
And since they had so much money they ramped up production and features, and now they have to sell/upsell you more shit to keep the building process going, because after 10 years all the parts still don't fit together.
tl;dr: AoC was maybe a cash grab, maybe not--money was not as available as Star Citizen, and at the end the investors wanted control/their money back from ... basically a multi-level-marketing salesman.
Star Citizen had too much money, and was paid for by nerd hopes and tears, and is run by a narcisstic micro-managing perfectionist, who wants this to be his magnum opus.
